GSE. Grape Fruit Seed Extract.
I have heard many great things about GSE. My sister uses it in her birds water, and puts a little in the water that cleans the birds cage.
Does anyone use GSE?
Whats were your experiences with it?
Should I start to use GSE? Or does it even do anything...

All of the above for what GC said and I also use GSE in my oral hygeine. You will find it contained in some of the better mouthwashes for us people. It is an excellent germacide and more. For our Aussie friends it is sadly by physican prescription only. You can purchase it most any health food concern in the US. I do not know about Africa.

For our Aussie friends it is sadly by physican prescription only. You can purchase it most any health food concern in the US. I do not know about Africa.

I didn't know that- thank you! I am able purchase natural products that are physician only through my business so am not sure what is limited to the general public, unfortunately I can only find it in tablet form here. My suppliers said it's out of stock everywhere. Damn TGA

Grapefruit seed extract is not grapefruit juice. It is also not grapefruit essential oil and it is most certainly not an herbal tincture. Chemical manufacturers take the leftover grapefruit pulp, a waste by-product from grapefruit juice production, and in an intensive, multi-step industrial chemical process, change the natural phenolic compounds into synthetic quaternary ammonium compounds. Typically, in chemical synthesis of this type, chemical reagents and catalysts are used under extreme high heat and pressure or vacuum. Synthetic ammonium chloride is one of the chemical catalysts used in this process.

“Confirming an earlier study by researchers in Germany we found that some commercial grapefruit seed extracts contain benzethonium chloride, a synthetic anti microbial agent commonly used in cosmetics and only approved for topical use, at relatively high levels of 8%.'

The Swiss Toxicological Information Center of Basel, Switzerland, reports that “Grapefruit seed extracts containing benzethonium chloride in concentrations of 7-11% represent a major health risk if larger amounts of a concentrated solution are ingested...

Grapefruit seed extract is not grapefruit juice. It is also not grapefruit essential oil and it is most certainly not an herbal tincture. Chemical manufacturers take the leftover grapefruit pulp, a waste by-product from grapefruit juice production, and in an intensive, multi-step industrial chemical process, change the natural phenolic compounds into synthetic quaternary ammonium compounds. Typically, in chemical synthesis of this type, chemical reagents and catalysts are used under extreme high heat and pressure or vacuum. Synthetic ammonium chloride is one of the chemical catalysts used in this process.

“Confirming an earlier study by researchers in Germany we found that some commercial grapefruit seed extracts contain benzethonium chloride, a synthetic anti microbial agent commonly used in cosmetics and only approved for topical use, at relatively high levels of 8%.'

The Swiss Toxicological Information Center of Basel, Switzerland, reports that “Grapefruit seed extracts containing benzethonium chloride in concentrations of 7-11% represent a major health risk if larger amounts of a concentrated solution are ingested...

Wow, thats scary!
The stuff that's sold here is for adults and children to put in their water/drinks!"May put two or more drops in drinks for adult and children use. Do not mix with alchohol. May be used as a throat gargle, dental rinse, skin problems, and much more. Keep away from eyes."
Thats what it says on the back of mine.
The stuff I have is liquid.

And by GSE, I don't mean "grape seed extract". i mean what they are calling grapeseed extract. The stuff that doesn't actually have anti-microbial properties until they put the benzethonium chloride in it.

Money-making scam aside, benzethonium chloride should never be taken internally. This is fine for you and I, who could conceivably use it as a disinfectant on surfaces, because we don't walk around using our mouth as a hand, like our parrots do.

Not to get too preachy, but I know how to read material data safety sheets, and this stuff scares me.

You would be amazed how clean you can keep your cage with a putty knife (metal blade and PLASTIC handle, NOT wooden), spray bottle of warm water and vinegar, paper towels, a toothbrush, and a steam cleaner for disinfecting. (Don't use sponges...they seem very convenient, but there isn't an environment on Earth more favorable for nasty bacteria.)

The trick is just to clean a little each day. The whole cage doesn't have to be surgically spotless every day. I tend to clean one face of the cage spotlessly every day or two, in a rotation. It takes 5-10 minutes a day, even if you add in changing the newspaper at the bottom. It keeps the whole cage in a remarkably clean state, given how messy a bird can be (Coming back from a week's vacation where the sitter only feeds, waters, and plays with the bird, but doesn't clean is fun, huh? )

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